Involvement with the criminal justice system increases markedly during the transition from youth to adulthood in the United States. Providing targeted services and supports to vulnerable emerging adults during this transition may be an effective way of reducing the conditions and behaviors that lead to incarceration and its adverse health effects. The research team led by Texas A&M University uses a randomized trial to test the effectiveness of the Transformative Justice (TJ) program in reducing criminal justice recidivism and improving health outcomes by coordinating health and social services for justice-involved young adults. The program assigns a multi-sector case management team to individuals following their arrest for lower-degree felony offenses, connecting them to mental health, legal assistance, education, employment training, transportation, and housing services. The research team collaborates with the Access to Justice Lab at Harvard Law School, the University of Texas Health Science Center, the Lone Star Justice Alliance, and multiple local non-profits and county agencies to conduct the study.

Speakers: George Naufal, PhD and Emily Naiser, PhD at Texas A&M

About Systems for Action:

Systems for Action (S4A) is a signature research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that is housed in the Department of Health Systems, Management & Policy at the Colorado School of Public Health. S4A research builds a Culture of Health by rigorously testing new ways of connecting the nation’s fragmented medical, social, and public health systems.